Chapter 285: Wolf Hunting Team Arrives at the Northern Isolation Zone

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Wolf Hunting Team Arrives at the Northern Isolation Zone

The bear roars she’d heard while gathering pine nuts on Mountain No. 50 had been loud, but they hadn’t held much anger. This time, the roars were clearly furious, which was why Sheep Leader was afraid.

Xiaqing couldn’t explain how she knew. She had no scientific theory for it, nor had she undergone any systematic auditory training. She simply sensed the emotional difference contained within the roars. ’Is this a distinction only someone with an Auditory Evolution ability can hear?’

Because the bear roars made Sheep Leader uneasy, Xiaqing canceled her afternoon trip to Valley No. 1 to check on the Mountain Ginger. She had Chen Zheng return to No.1 Territory while she led Sheep Leader home.

She had to prepare the pine nuts and Chestnuts she promised Xin Yu as soon as possible. The Chestnuts were ready, but the pine nuts were still in their pine cones, which were drying on the roof.

Pine cones were already hard, and they became even harder after their hardness evolution. The pine cones she had harvested had been drying on the roof for half a month and had only started to crack open yesterday. Xiaqing had planned to harvest the pine nuts tomorrow, but things don’t always go according to plan, so she decided to process the pine cones this afternoon instead.

After returning home, Xiaqing first peeked through the chicken coop window to check the nests. Finding no new eggs, she poured some Pollution-free Spring Water into Sheep Leader’s water basin. Once he had calmed down, she went up to the roof of the warehouse, gathered the Green Light Pinecones into a bag, and carried it down to the courtyard to thresh them.

Since the edible pine trees had all undergone a hardness evolution, Xiaqing didn’t dare to thresh the cones directly on the roof, afraid she might knock a hole in it.

After a few minutes of threshing, most of the pine nuts had fallen out. A few remained hidden inside the pine cones, requiring a thin screwdriver to pry them out.

It was delicate work, but fortunately, Xiaqing had plenty of patience.

Listening to the bear roars and faint dog barks, Xiaqing chatted with Sheep Leader as she picked out the pine nuts. "With all this noise, the Wolf Group must have heard it. As long as the Queen and Broken Waist aren’t fools, they’ll lead the pack deeper into the Evolution Forest to hide. Leader, do you know where the Wolf Group’s territory is?"

Lying beside Xiaqing, Sheep Leader narrowed his eyes and chewed his cud, not making a sound.

"It would be nice if we had a talking bird companion too." Xiaqing picked out a pine nut and glanced at the row of swallows perched on the chicken coop roof.

These little creatures were cuter than Crows, but none of them were Brain Domain Evolvers, and they couldn’t speak human language. Most omnivorous migratory birds flew in the evening and at night. The swallows were lined up, looking north, probably waiting for a flock of migratory birds to pass by so they could take off and follow.

As Xiaqing placed an empty pine cone into a bamboo basket and picked up another to inspect, she heard the sound of the little swallows taking flight all at once.

She thought the swallows were starting their journey, but when she looked up, she saw them circle the yard twice before landing on the bamboo pole she used to use for drying vegetables.

On the chicken coop roof, where the swallows had been, a small head appeared. It was a similar color to the synthetic resin tiles. Behind the small head was a large, fluffy tail, swaying back and forth.

’Isn’t that the freeloader? Did it hear the sound of me threshing pine cones and come running for another free meal?’

Xiaqing was speechless. She lowered her head and continued picking out pine nuts.

Seeing that Xiaqing was ignoring it, the Red Squirrel leaped from the chicken coop to the roof of the sheep pen, then from the sheep pen roof down into the yard. It rubbed its little paws together, staring eagerly at the pile of pine cones.

Xiaqing picked up a pine cone, checked that no nuts were left inside, and tossed it to the Red Squirrel. "Here, go play with this."

The Red Squirrel leaped up with a WHOOSH to catch it. It fiddled with the cone like a treasure for a moment with its little paws, but after finding not a single pine nut, it tossed the cone aside. It went back to wagging its big tail and rubbing its paws, trying to trade its good looks for food.

Its cute appearance was indeed very pleasing to the eye, but Xiaqing wasn’t falling for it. She picked out a pine nut and ate it herself. Then she picked out another and gave it to Sheep Leader beside her.

Sheep Leader squinted at the Red Squirrel, chewing the pine nut with relish.

"Want some?" Xiaqing picked out another nut and held it in her left hand. Then, she pulled a peanut from the pocket of her Protective Suit, her actions matching her words. "If you want a pine nut, you trade me a peanut for it. No peanuts, no pine nuts."

The Red Squirrel watched Xiaqing put the pine nut into a bag and began jumping up and down, CHIRPING away, vividly expressing its dissatisfaction.

Xiaqing didn’t care whether the Red Squirrel was satisfied or not. The Evolution Forest was full of pine trees; she refused to believe the Red Squirrel couldn’t find edible ones for itself.

Not to mention other places, on the Yellow Light Pine Tree in Zone Three of Mountain 49 alone, Xiaqing had left enough pine cones for the Red Squirrel to last the winter. ’If it wants to eat, it can go pick them itself!’

The Red Squirrel threw a tantrum and tried acting cute for a while longer. When it finally understood that Xiaqing wouldn’t give it anything for free, it grabbed the empty pine cone and left, grumbling all the way.

Working at a steady, unhurried pace, Xiaqing finished harvesting the pine nuts a little after five in the afternoon.

The pine cones from the four Green Light Pine Trees in Zone Three of Mountain 49 yielded 43 jin of pine nuts. The Yellow Light cones yielded 66 jin, and she got another 24 jin from Mountain No. 50.

This year, Xiaqing had harvested a total of 133 jin of edible pine nuts, enough for her to use in stir-fries, porridge, and other dishes.

She cheerfully weighed out two jin of the pine nuts harvested from Mountain No. 50 and packed them into a sealed bag.

The pine nuts from Mountain No. 50 had a lower Harmful Element content and a better taste than those from Mountain No. 49. To show her gratitude to Xin Yu, Xiaqing naturally wanted to give her the best ones.

Then, Xiaqing stored the three bags of pine nuts in the underground grain storeroom in the tool shed. She then went to the underground vegetable storeroom in the garage to retrieve ten jin of Yellow Light Chestnuts.

Xiaqing didn’t store the Chestnuts and pine nuts in the same storeroom because the two foods required different temperature and humidity levels for storage.

The storage requirements for pine nuts were similar to wheat, so they were kept in the grain storeroom. The requirements for Chestnuts were similar to potatoes and other vegetables, so they were kept in the vegetable storeroom.

After sealing the nuts, the bear on Mountain No. 50 had stopped roaring and the dogs had stopped barking. Xiaqing picked up the goods for trade and headed for the Northern Isolation Zone. Seeing her leave, Sheep Leader immediately followed.

The human and sheep pair hadn’t yet reached the Northern Isolation Zone when they heard dogs barking nearby. Xiaqing’s first instinct was to hold back the combative Sheep Leader, but Sheep Leader’s reaction was to nudge Xiaqing back towards their territory, urging her to run with him.

From Sheep Leader’s actions, Xiaqing deduced that the two furiously barking Evolutionary dogs were not weak. She quickly led Sheep Leader to the small hut by the farmland, told him to stay inside, and then returned to the Buffer Forest on the High Slope, climbing the Big Chuntun Tree to survey the situation.

The Wolf Hunting Team, with their two Evolutionary dogs, had been stopped by the Danger Investigation Team led by Tan Junjie on the Northern Isolation Zone where Third Territory and Territory No. 4 met. Following the stream north from that position would lead to the abandoned Wild Boar Breeding Center. The cave there was now the wolves’ den.

Amid the barking, Blind Jiang, who was blind in one eye, was negotiating with Tan Junjie. "Captain Tan, our smell-evolved dogs caught the scent of wolves nearby, that’s why they’re barking a warning."

Tan Junjie gave a stern warning, "This is a territory isolation zone. Make your tamed beasts stop making noise that could attract an Evolution Bear."

Blind Jiang didn’t order the Evolutionary dogs to stop. He spread his hands and explained, "There’s the scent of wolves here, that’s why the Evolutionary dogs are reacting so strongly. I can’t stop them."

"This is your second warning: Jiang Bear Team, have your tamed beasts immediately cease this behavior that poses a severe security risk to the territory. Otherwise, the Danger Investigation Team will shoot to kill."

After the second warning was issued, the members of the Danger Investigation Team raised their guns and aimed at the Jiang Bear Team’s two Evolutionary dogs.

Before Tan Junjie could issue a third warning, Blind Jiang immediately ordered his two Evolutionary dogs to shut up.

From her perch on the Big Chuntun Tree, the Level 9 Visual Evolver Xiaqing clearly saw the anger in Blind Jiang’s single eye.